memeorandum: E.U. plans to freeze assets of Putin, Lavrov (Washington Post)

2:45 PM ET, February 25, 2022

Top Items:

Supreme Court Nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson — On February 25, 2022, President Joe Biden nominated Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to become the 116th Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court.

Washington Post:

Biden to nominate Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court … President Biden will nominate federal judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to replace retiring Justice Stephen G. Breyer, according to people briefed on the process, a historic choice that fulfills the president's pledge to nominate the first Black woman to the Supreme Court.

Igor Bobic / HuffPost:
GOP Sen. Marsha Blackburn Objects To Timing Of Biden's Supreme Court Announcement, Citing Ukraine

Discussion: Insider

CNN:
Biden nominates Ketanji Brown Jackson to be first Black woman to sit on Supreme Court

Lexi Lonas / The Hill:
Paul Ryan praises Biden's SCOTUS pick: ‘Incredibly happy for Ketanji’

Discussion: Fox News and Washington Post

Katie Rogers / New York Times:
Judge Would Be First Black Woman to Serve as Justice

Devin Dwyer / ABC News:
Biden to nominate Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson as first Black woman on Supreme Court

Washington Post: Biden introduces historic nominee Jackson, tapped to be first Black female justice

New York Times:

NATO to Add Troops in Eastern Member States — It was unclear whether Russia would engage in talks with Ukraine's leadership. The E.U. sanctioned Mr. Putin, amid growing pressure to isolate him and Russia. — With Russian troops moving on Kyiv, the Kremlin sends mixed signals on talks.

Discussion: Reuters, National Review, Axios, Breitbart, Wall Street Journal, Political Wire, Public Sphere, Channel Surfing, TheBlaze, Bloomberg, Boston.com and Washington Examiner

Washington Post:

On Ukraine's Snake Island, a defiant last stand against Russian forces — As the Russian military pounded targets across Ukraine with an array of bombs and missiles, a small team of Ukrainian border guards on a rocky, desolate island received an ominous message: Give up or be attacked.

Discussion: HotAir, USNI News, Second Nexus, The Federalist, CNN, BBC, GovExec.com, IJR, BizPac Review, Task & Purpose, CBS News, KTLA, KRQE-TV, Fox News, The Daily Beast, The Wrap and The Guardian

YouTube:

“Русск ий кора;бль, иди нах@й" - битв а за Зміїн ий — Стал …

Discussion: The Guardian, New York Post, The Maritime Executive, Mediaite, The Daily Caller and Politico

John Paul Rathbone / Financial Times:
Ukraine war latest: Zelensky pledges to join Kyiv residents in defending independence

Discussion: Politico, Forbes and TheJournal.ie

Mike Brest / Washington Examiner:
Putin ‘ready’ for talks with Kyiv, Kremlin says

Discussion: Politico, Bloomberg, Wall Street Journal, Al Jazeera and The Times of Israel

Associated Press:
Ukraine's capital under threat as Russia presses invasion

Douglas Busvine / Politico:
Putin calls on Ukraine military to overthrow government, agree peace deal

Discussion: New York Times, Washington Post, Fox News, The Times of Israel, Pro Eight, Daily Kos, Metro.co.uk, Bloomberg, Hong Kong Free Press HKFP, Talking Points Memo and Reuters

Paul Krugman / New York Times:

Laundered Money Could Be Putin's Achilles' Heel — The United States and its allies aren't going to intervene with their own forces against Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine. I'll leave it to others with relevant expertise to speculate about whether we'll send more arms to the Ukrainian government or …

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, GAB, Reuters, Financial Times, Outside the Beltway and Washington Post

Washington Post:

E.U. plans to freeze assets of Putin, Lavrov — BRUSSELS — The European Union plans to freeze assets of Russian President Putin and his foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, according to people familiar with the talks. — Neither would be banned from travel in the E.U., the sources said.

Discussion: Financial Times, Townhall, Hackwhackers and CNBC

Phil Mattingly / CNN: US expected to impose sanctions on Putin as soon as Friday, sources tell CNN

Boston Herald: Don't wait, Joe - go after Putin's money now

Edward Wong / New York Times:

U.S. Officials Repeatedly Urged China to Help Avert War in Ukraine — Americans presented Chinese officials with intelligence on Russia's troop buildup in hopes that President Xi Jinping would step in, but were repeatedly rebuffed. — WASHINGTON — Over three months …

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon, Townhall, Wall Street Journal, National Review, RedState, Los Angeles Times, HotAir, Tilting At Windmills, Twitchy, The Dispatch, CNBC, The National Interest, emptywheel and Defense One

Nahal Toosi / Politico:
Putin was playing Biden all along

Discussion: ABC News, The Liberal Patriot, HotAir, The Guardian, Washington Post, TheBlaze, National Review, The Bulwark, Daily Mail, Tales From the Homestead, United States Institute … and CBS News

Washington Post:
13 days: Inside Biden's last-ditch attempts to stop Putin in Ukraine

Discussion: Mediaite

Washington Post:

Post-ABC poll finds bipartisan support for sanctions on Russia as it invades Ukraine … A large and bipartisan majority of Americans supports economic sanctions on Russia for its military invasion of Ukraine, as public antipathy toward Russia climbs to Cold War levels, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll.

Discussion: ABC News, New Yorker, Fox News and Wall Street Journal

Domenico Montanaro / NPR:
A majority says Biden's first year was a failure, a new poll finds

Discussion: Marist Poll

RJ Reinhart / Gallup:
U.S. Public Sees Russia-Ukraine Conflict as Critical Threat

Discussion: HotAir

Chris Casteel / Oklahoman:

Sen. Jim Inhofe to resign from Senate, backs top aide Luke Holland to succeed him … Oklahoma Sen. Jim Inhofe plans to resign the seat he has held since 1994, setting up what could be major changes in the state's political landscape just weeks before candidate filing.

Discussion: Washington Examiner, HuffPost, Washington Post, Bloomberg, KFOR-TV, National Review, Roll Call, The Gateway Pundit, CNN, New York Times and Associated Press

Barak Ravid / Axios:

Zelensky to EU leaders: “This might be the last time you see me alive” — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told EU leaders “this might be the last time you see me alive” during a video conference on Thursday night, two European sources briefed on the call tell Axios.

Discussion: Washington Post, Washington Examiner, Financial Times, Insider, Streams of Crunchiness, Mediaite, New York Post, Conservative Brief, Common Dreams, YouTube and Power Line

Charles C. W. Cooke / National Review:

Charlie Kirk Butchers the First Amendment in God's Name — The Devil's next finest trick, it seems, is to persuade us that the Constitution's free-speech protections don't actually exist. — t Newsweek, Turning Point USA's Charlie Kirk has written one of the most foolish, self-serving …

Charlie Kirk / Newsweek:
Free Speech for Satanism?

Discussion: Raw Story

New York Times:

'I'll Stand on the Side of Russia': Pro-Putin Sentiment Spreads Online — After marinating in conspiracy theories and Donald J. Trump's Russia stance, some online discourse about Vladimir Putin has grown more complimentary. — Davey Alba and Stuart Thompson, tech reporters based in New York, report on online information flows.

Discussion: North Stars and Cowboy Bars, POLITICUSUSA and Washington Post

CNN:

House January 6 committee is meeting with Kimberly Guilfoyle — (CNN)Kimberly Guilfoyle is currently being interviewed by the House select committee investigating the January 6 Capitol Hill riot, according to a source familiar with the deposition. — Guilfoyle is engaged to Donald Trump Jr. …

Discussion: CBS News, Mercury News and Jenelle's Newsletter

NBC News:
Kimberly Guilfoyle, partner of Donald Trump Jr., interviewed by Jan. 6 committee

Discussion: POLITICUSUSA

Matt Taibbi / TK News:

Note to Readers, on the Invasion of Ukraine — A faceplant of my own. — Part of news and even commentary is admitting mistakes, and though I always made sure when discussing the subject to note Vladimir Putin could still invade Ukraine, I have to admit, I didn't see this happening.

Discussion: Washington Post, The Truth, The Racket News, The Politics of Culture, Mediaite and The Wrap

ABC News:

CDC to ease masking recommendations for 70% of country, including inside schools — The new metrics would term the majority of the country low-to-medium risk. — Some 70% of Americans will be able to remove their masks indoors, including inside schools, under new guidance to be released …

Discussion: Spectrum News NY1, Gizmodo and NBC New York

Elizabeth Nolan Brown / Reason:

Stop Trying To Make Ukraine About Your Culture War — As the situation in Ukraine continues to worsen, many Americans can't stop trying to make this tragedy all about us. With the horrors of real war raging—buildings bombed, and 137 people killed so far, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy …

Philip Pullella / Reuters:

Departing from protocol, pope goes to Russian embassy over Ukraine … Pope Francis went to the Russian embassy to the Holy See on Friday to relay his concern over Russia's invasion of Ukraine to Moscow's ambassador, in an unprecedented departure from diplomatic protocol.

Discussion: Washington Examiner, WBNS-TV, WTOP News, Lawyers, Guns & Money and WSVN-TV